Clothes hanger support for shipping containers



L. WINKLER Feb. 20, 1962 CLOTHES HANGER SUPPORT FOR SHIPPING CONTAINERS Filed May 24, 1960 INVENTOR Louis Winkler ATTORNEY llllllllllllllllllllllllll llliill! 3,ll2l,958 (FLUTE-IE HANGER SUPPGRT F'QR SHIFPENG (IONTAJNERS Louis Winkler, 1 Reid Ave, Troy, N.Y. Filed May 24, 1960, so. No. 31,289 Claims. Ci. 211-124) The present invention relates to a clothes hanger support for shipping containers and has for an object to provide a device of this kind which will confine a plurality of clothes or garment hangers on a supporting bar against accidental displacement therefrom during transportation of the garments from one location to another.

In shipping garments from the point of manufacture to the retail distribution outlet it has been a problem to prevent the escape of the clothes or garment hangers from the supporting bar or member carried by the shipping container. In a great many instances the hangers have escaped from the supporting bar during transportation of the garments so that when the shipping container is received by the retail distributor the garments are lying in a heap at the bottom of the container in a mussed up and wrinkled condition so that it is necessary to press the garments before displaying them for sale.

It is one of the obiects of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive device for overcoming the above discussed difficulty A further object of the present invention is to provide a clothes hanger support which can be quickly and easily loaded with the clothes hangers and which is provided with a confining member for the hook and neck portions of the hangers capable of being quickly and easily moved from its clothes hanger loading position to its clothes hanger confining position.

The present invention aims to provide a device of this character which includes mounting means for permitting of the facile mounting and demounting of the clothes hanger support upon the shipping container.

The present invention also aims to provide a device of this character in which means are provided for support ing the clothes hanger support in its clothes hanger loading position and permitting the movement of the confining member to its clothes hanger confining position.

The present invention contemplates, the provision of a clothes hanger support and a shipping container which are so relatively dimensioned and positioned that the pairs of opposed walls of the shipping container cooperate with the confining member to prevent the accidental escape of the clothes hanger from the supporting memher.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings in which the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the several views,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the device con structed in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2, and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentray perspective view of a further modification of the device.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3, 42 indicates a clothes hanger supporting member which may be made of any suitable metal or any other appropriate material and may be solid or hollow as illustrated in the drawings. The member 42 is substantially rectangular in cross section and is made of one piece of material bent to the desired configuration and having its free end portions overlapping to form the botice tom of the member as indicated at 43. These overlapping end portions may be secured. together in any suitable manner as by welding or by solid rivets 43 adjacent each end of the member 42 as can be seen from FIGURE 2 of the drawing. The top 44 of the member 42 maybe rounded or curved to receive and to conform to the hook portions 45 of clothes hangers 46' which support the clothes 47. The top 44 of the member 42 is provided adjacent each end thereof with an opening 48. Said openings 4% permit engagement by any suitable hooks, grapples or other holding and lowering means in order to facilitate loading and releasing of the clothes which are hung on the supporting member while out of or moving to or from the container.

A mounting means, generally indicated at 49, is carried at each end portion of the supporting member 42. Each mounting means 49 comprises a substantially inverted U- shaped member having an inner leg 50 and an outer leg 5-1 connected by a bridging piece 52. The inner leg 50 is of plate-like formation and its central portion is provided with a plurality'of slits 53 through which extend tongues 53 extending'from the adjacent end of the supporting member 42. After passing through the slits in the inner leg 5d of the mounting means 49, the tongues are bent over or clinched against the outer face of the inner leg 56 so as to secure the mounting means 4g to the end of the supporting member 4-2. The outer leg 51 of each mounting means is of less height than the inner leg 50 and is spaced outwardly therefrom.

The inner leg 56) of each mounting means 49 has a portion thereof punched inwardly to provide a loop or knuckle 54 which extends inwardly from the inner face of the inner leg. A confining means or locking bar 55 is pivotally supported by the loop 54 on one of the mounting means 49. The confining means 55 may be in the form of a metal rod or other suitable material and has a length which is slightly greater than the length of the supporting member 42. One free end portion of the locking bar 55 is bent at substantially right angles to the main body portion of the member 55, as indicated at 56. The portion 56 is inserted through the loop 54 so that the extreme end part 57 thereof extends outwardly beyond the knuckle 54. This part 57 is then bent at substantially right angles to the portion 56 so that the'portion 56 is retained within the loop '54 but is permitted to have free pivotal movement therein.

The opposite end portion of the locking bar 55 is bent into a substantially inverted U-shape hook-like portion, generally indicated at 58, which comprises an inner leg 59 and an outer leg 6% connected by a bridging piece 61. The outer leg is longer than the inner leg 59 and is of greater height than the height of the supporting member 42; so that when the bridging piece 61 rests upon the top 44 of the member 42, the lower free end bent in portion 62 of the leg 64 will be disposed beneath the bottom 43 of the supporting member 42. A latching member 63 eX tends through an opening 64 formed in the supporting member 42 at substantially its longitudinal center. The opposite end portions of the latching member 63 are bent downwardly, as indicated at 65, to form hook-like portions which will prevent the escape of the latching member 63 from the opening in the support member 42.

In the use of the device, the supporting member 42 will be supported by any suitable means engaged in the holes 48 of the member 42. The spaces or the open mouths defined by the inner and outer legs of the mounting means 49 will be faced downwardly and the locking bar 55 will be swung upwardly to the phantom line position shown in FIGURE 1. The desired number of clothes hangers 46 will now be positioned upon the support 44 and the rod 55 will be swung downwardly to its full line position shown in FIGURE 1 in which the intermediate portion of the oneness bar 55' will be disposed beneath and in engagement with one of the hook-like portions 65 of the latching member 63 and the bridging piece 61 will rest upon the top 44- of the member 42 and the bent-in portion 62 will be disposed beneath the bottom 43 of the member The straight main body portion of the bar 55 will extend along one side of the member 52 and in spaced parallel relation thereto outwardly of the necks 66 of the clothes hangers 4-6 so as to retain the clothes hangers in proper supported position upon the supper-ting member 42. The hook-like portion 65 which engages the intermediate portion of the .bar 55 and the bent-in portion 62 of the leg 65% will prevent the accidental escape of the locking bar 55 from its engagement with the member 42 and the necks 66 of the clothes hangers 46. In this member the clothes hangers 46 are prevented from escaping from the supporting member 42. The device will nowbe positioned within the shipping container 26 with the upper edge portions or" the side walls 27 of the shipping container received by the spaces between the outer legs 51 and the inner legs 5% of the mounting means 4 The cover of the shipping container will now be positioned over the open top of the container 26 with its depending skirt engaging the outer surfaces of the outer legs :71 of the mounting means 4-9. The cover will force the outer legs 51 into tight frictional engagement with the outer surfaces of the upper edge portions of the walls 27 and will force the inner faces of the upper edge portions of the walls into tight frictional 'engagemcnt with the inner legs 50 as is shown in FlGURE 2 of the drawings.

In FIGURE 4 is illustrated a modified form of the locking bar 55 which is designated at 55 One free end portion of the locking bar 55 is bent at substantially right angles to the main body portion of the member 55 as indicated at 56 The bent free end portion 56* is pivotally received by the loop 54 of the mounting means 49 and the lockingbar 55 operates in the same manner as the bar 55. In this form of the locking bar, the bent part 57 is omitted to facilitate the insertion of the portion 56 into the loop 54. During the normal swinging movement of the locking bar 55 between its operative and inoperative positions the portion 56 will not escape from the loop '54 since the length of the portion 56 and the spacing of the loop 54 from the adjacent side of the member 42. are so correlated as to prevent such accidental escape but will permit intended insertion and withdrawal of the portion 56 into and from the loop 54.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications.

may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiments of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A clothes hanger support for shipping containers comprising a clothes hanger supporting member adapted to receive the hook and neck portions of the clothes hanger, a confining member on said supporting member capable of movement between two positions in oneot which the hook and neck portions of the clothes hanger can be engaged with the supporting member and in .the other of which the confining member will lie closely adjacent to the neck portion of the clothes hanger to confine the hanger on the supporting member several means carried by the supporting member for mounting the supporting member on a shipping container, a loop carried by at least one of said mounting means, one end portion of the confining member being bent at substantially right-angles to the main body portion thereof and received by said loop for pivotal movement therein, the length of said bent portion and spacing of the loop from the supporting member being so correlated as to prevent accidental escape of the bent portion from the loop during pivotal movement of the bent portion in the loop but permitting intended insertion and withdrawal of the bent portion into and from the loop.

2. A clothes hanger support as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said mounting means comprises a substantially U-shaped member for engaging over the upper edge portions of two opposed Walls of the shipping contamer.

3. A clothes hanger support as claimed in claim 1 wherein said confining member has its opposite end portion detachably frictionally engaged with said supporting member.

4. A clothes hanger support as claimed in claim 1 wherein said confining membe has its opposite end por tion detachably engaged with said supporting member.

5. A clothes hanger support as claimed in claim 4 wherein means are carried by said confining member for engaging said clothes hanger supporting member for preventing accidental disengagement of the confining member from the clothes hanger supporting member.

6. A clothes hanger support as claimed in claim 4 wherein means are carried by the clothes hanger supporting mem er for engaging the confining member for bolding the confining member closely adjacent to the neck portion of the clothes hanger.

7. A clothes hanger support as claimed in claim 1 wherein the extreme end part of said bent portion extends outwardly beyond the loop and is bent at substantially right angles to said bent portion for retaining the bent portion in the loop.

8. A clothes hanger support for shipping containers comprising a clothes hanger supporting member adapted to receive the hook and neck portions of the clothes hanger, means to mount the said supporting member on the shipping container, said means having a loop, a locking bar movable to and from positions substantially parallel with said supporting member and substantially perpendicular thereto, said locking bar being disposed primarily below and at one side of the upper surface of said supporting member and having first and second end portions, said first end portion extending laterally outwardly away from said supporting member and being pivoted in said loop, said second end portion being of inverted U-shape to rest at its bight on and straddle said supporting member in its locked position with its legs on opposite sides of the latter, one of said legs having a distal end extending below the other leg provided with a portion to clip under said supporting member, and said locking bar being sufiiciently elongated to afiord leverage to enable it to be locked and unlocked to said supporting member without the use of tools.

9. A clothes hanger according to claim 8 wherein said supporting member adjacent its top has a plurality of holes in spaced relation for engagement by handling or supportingmeans inorder to hold the supporting member while being loaded and handled while loaded.

10. A clothes hanger according to claim 8 having a latching member slidable transversely of the supporting member provided with a retaining hook at one end, and at its other and provided with a hook to latch said locking bar to hold the same against spreadingrelative to the supporting member.

References "Cited in the file of this patent .UNETED STATES PATENTS 2,068,451 Elmore Jan. 19, 1937 2,076,708 Comstock Apr. 13, 1937 2,153,905 Yankovitch Apr. 11, 1939 2,276,569 Fried Mar. 17, 1942 2,822,093 Graci Feb. 4, 1958 2,904,190 Gidwitz Sept. 15, 1959 

